Iain Griffiths from The World’s 50 Best Bars’ Dandelyan and White Lyan was crowned UK winner of the 2015/16 Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition last night.

His victory was announced at the Northern European Final Dinner, held at London’s St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.

Londoner Griffiths took the UK spot on the plane to the San Francisco final ahead of national finalists Oliver Pluck from The East Village, Leeds and Santiago Michelis from Happiness Forgets, London.

Thirty six finalists from around the world will compete at the BLCC Grand Final, which will be held in San Francisco next month.

Following the UK final in November, the national finalists were tasked with devising their own marketing campaign to drive awareness and support of their cocktail.

Griffiths’ campaign saw his cocktail received national media coverage and set up the ‘Switchel Academy’ to “educate and inspire” the next generation of bartenders, generating over 2,000 likes for #SwitchelAcademy on Instagram.

Griffiths undertook guest shifts at bars across the country, taking his drink to a wider audience as well as securing menu listings at bars nationwide.

Griffiths said of his victory: “That was the most intense announcement, I still can’t believe it! There are lots of people I need to thank for helping me throughout my campaign. It was amazing how many people offered to help me so selflessly and give time and effort to the Carta Switchel. The UK has been the heart of the international cocktail scene for a while now, so having the daunting task of representing the UK next month is going to be a challenge, but I’m going to give it my all!”

Metinee Kongsrivilai, Bacardi UK Brand Ambassador, said: “Iain’s campaign represents everything we are looking for in a Bacardi Legacy winner so we’re thrilled to have him representing the UK in San Francisco at the Global Final. He delivered an exceptional promotional campaign and the passion and determination he demonstrated gained him a lot of support and respect."